The Land of Plenty: Zabar’s

Food-wise, America truly feels like the Land of Plenty, especially at a place like Zabar’s.

Located in NYC, on the Upper West Side, Zabars is a foodie’s heaven.

Floor to ceiling, the walls are stocked with fruits, vegetables, crackers, tea, olives, prepared salads, chocolate, cheese! How is a shopper supposed to choose?

I’m indecisive to begin with, so faced with all this to choose from, I’ll admit it took me almost an hour just to buy breakfast food!

Ultimately, I settled for the classic lox on jewish rye, with a couple of homemade rugelach on the side.

With two types of fresh rugelach available, chocolate and cinnamon raison, I was inclined not to futz around. Chocolate was the obvious choice. Fortunately, my father threw a couple cinnamon ones into our order. Boy, was I surprised. With these flakey, fruity little numbers in hand, the chocolate paled by comparison. Who knew?

Bagels are good, but jewish rye is something else. Soft, with a crust that’s just chewy enough, slightly sour, with caraway seeds all over the place, this bread is to die for.

Delicious when freshly sliced, this bread is just as tasty the next day: toasted and topped with nova lox and goat cheese, my favorite alternative to the classic cream cheese. There is no better breakfast.